5 Answers
5

I would avoid hyphens in the domain name. While they are useful in the path for a file or post, they add unneeded noise to the domain itself. Imagine having to spell it out for someone..."stack dash overflow dot com" just doesn't sound right.

On the other hand, there are likely some domains where a well-placed hyphen would be beneficial. For example: expertsexchange can be read as expert sex change. A hyphen would make a big difference: experts-exchange.

In the end, it's up to you, but my instinct is to avoid hyphens in a domain name.

Just don't forget to use some URL Rewriter to ensure that they all redirect to the same preferred domain, that way "every user gets to the right site" including search engines.
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Zhaph - Ben DuguidJul 9 '10 at 7:33

1

Definitely. And use 301 redirects to ensure that the page rank is handed over the preferred domain name.
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neoJul 9 '10 at 7:43

And if you have multiple domains mapped to the same document root and are using mod_rewrite to redirect, make sure that you include the redirect in each .htaccess file which has rewrite rules. I ended up with duplicates once because I expected the redirect to cascade. I've learned my lesson since and separated the domains into separate document roots. And if the sites are both answering from the same you are using mod-rewrite via .htaccess files at different levels in your site hierarchy, make sure that you add the
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JasonBirchJul 9 '10 at 7:53

The question is should we put hyphens in domain names? The answer is if you have them like www.stack-exchange.com instead of www.stackexchange.com, you will get less traffic because according to SEO practices, domains should have the following properties: